Pipe cleaner



April 15, 1969 K, P P ET AL PIPE CLEANER Sheet 1 of 2 Filed June 26.196'? IN VENTORS fibmwo K 941%- April 15, 1969 R. K. PAPER ET AL3,438,380

PIPE CLEANER Filed June 26. 1967 Sheet g of 2 INVENTORS Pom/v0 K Pe e-e5y Poacnr \SMYIPJ United States Patent 3,438,380 PIPE CLEANER Roland K.Paper, Davenport, and Robert D. Smyers, Wilton Junction, Iowa, assignorsto Automatic Cabinet Company, Durant, Iowa, a corporation of Iowa FiledJune 26, 1967, Ser. No. 648,683 Int. Cl. A24f 9/10, 19/10 U.S. Cl.131-232 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An ash tray including amotor driven rotary pipe cleaner having cutter blades with means foradjusting the resiliency of the blades and for accommodating large,medium and small bowls.

This invention relates to a pipe cleaner-ashtray and more particularlyto a motorized reamer comprising a suitable bifurcated blade or pair ofblades capable of being adjusted so as to ream and clean out varioussize pipe bowls without damage.

It is the principal object of the invention to provide an improved pipebowl cleaner or reamer.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a cleaner or reamerin which a pair of cutter blades are provided and wherein such cutterblades can be adjusted not only for various size bowls but moreimportantly for stiffening or rendering said cutter blades more springy.

A further object of the invention is to provide a pipe bowl cleaner orreamer which is electrically driven and in which when used incombination with an ashtray will by means of gravity direct thescrapings into the ashtray during the cleaning operation.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomereadily apparent from the following description when taken inconjunction with the drawings forming a part hereof as will be morefully described hereinafter in the specification.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a prospective view illustrating the improved pipecleaner-ashtray of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken substantially through the center lineof the pipe cleaner-ashtray shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an exploded view of the pipe reamer of the invention;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional and perspective view of thedevice of the invention in position and use for cleaning a pipe having alarge bowl;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary plan view looking into the pipe bowl of FIGURE4 and showing the relative position of the cutter blades and theadjacent bowl wall;

FIGURE 6 is an exploded perspective view of a modification of theembodiment shown in FIGURE 3; and

FIGURES 7 and 8 are also exploded perspective views of othermodifications of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG- URES 1-5, thereis illustrated the preferred form of the invention. As shown therein,the invention comprises a novel pipe bowl cleaning assembly 10, anashtray 12 and knocker 14. The ashtray 12 can be of any desired shapeand material, such as ceramic, metal, plastic and the like, whereas theknocker 14 is generally of a cork like substance.

For purposes of illustration herein, the pipe bowl cleaning assembly issuitably electrically driven as for example by a motor 16 powered bymeans of the conventional household electric source, i.e., 60 cycle,110-120 volt A.C. power. The assembly 10 comprises a collar 18, at leasttwo cutting blades 20 and 22, locking member 3,438,380 Patented Apr. 15,1969 24, and member 26 which is interchangeable for other similarmembers. These members lend themselves not only as spacer means forvarious size pipe bowls but more importantly they lend themselves torendering the cut ter blades stiff or flexible depending upon which sizemember is interposed between the cutter blades 20 and 22.

As best shown in FIGURE 2, the pipe bowl cleaning assembly 10 isrotatively driven by gearing means 28 through gear means 30 which issuitably connected to the rotating shaft 32 of the motor 16. The motor16 is controlled by means of a conventional on-off switch 34 suitablymounted in the rear wall 36 of the ashtray 12.

The collar 18 is removably connected to the gearing shaft 38, such asfor example by threaded means (not shown), and the shaft 38 is guidinglysupported in the ashtray 12 by means of a suitable bushing or hearing40.

Referring now in particular to FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, the cutter blades 20and 22 are held within the collar 18 by locking member 24 which iswedged down the blind aperture 42 into which the extending straight legportions 44 and 46 of the blades 20 and 22 are fixedly positioned,respectively. FIGURE 3 shows a small member 26 whereas FIGURE 4illustrates the use of the device with a large member 26. These members26 as noted hereinabove lend themselves to rendering the curved cutterblades 22 and 24 stiff or flexible. With longer members, the cutterblades 22 and 24 have less resiliency and with shorter members, thecutter blades 22 and 24 have greater flexibility and resiliency forcleaning smaller diameter pipe bowls and for cleaning less densematerial.

For larger diameter bowls and for cleaning dense, hard packed and cakedmaterial, stiffer blades are required and this is readily accomplishedwith the interchangeable members 26 of the invention.

As shown in FIGURE 5, the curved portion of the cutter blades 20 and 22are disposed in a preferred orientation with respect to the inside wallof the pipe bowl. The blades 20 and 22 are preferably disposed at anangle a to the tangent formed at the point of contact with the blade tothe circle formed by the wall of the pipe bowl and lying in a plane thatis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the pipe bowl. Optimumresults are achieved by the pipe cleaner of the invention when thisangle a is from between about 10 and about 15 degrees.

In FIGURE 6, a three prong or cutter blade assembly 48 is illustratedwith the three cutter blades being held fixed to the collar 50 by meansof a ball 52 wedged between the extending straight legs of the cutterblades. In this modification, a triangular shaped aperture 54 is desiredso as to insure that each blade is positioned approximately degrees fromthe adjacent cutter blades.

FIGURES 7 and 8 illustrate other forms of fastening the cutter blades toa collar. In the embodiment shown in FIGURE 7, the pair of cutter bladesare fixedly held to the collar 56 by means of a locking ring 58.However, in this application a square-shaped boss or pad 60 isnecessary. The extending straight leg portion of the cutter blades arethen held between the inner walls of the locking ring 58 and the raisedboss or pad 60. The cutter blades shown in FIGURE 8 are held to thecollar 62 by means of a conventional fastener, such as a screw 64 butwith this construction, suitable keying means 66 must be provided topreclude the blades from rotating about the fastener or screw 64.

In operation, the switch 34 is turned on and by means of the motor 16and associated gearing the cutter blades 20 and 22 are forced to rotate.The bowl of a pipe, as shown in FIGURE 4, is positioned over the cutterblades 20 and 22 and lowered until the walls and bottom of the bowl arereamed clean. All of the scrapings will due to gravity automaticallyfall into the ashtray 12. The knocker 14, which is suitably cemented tothe ashtray 12, can be used to rap the pipe so as to dump all dust,ashes and residue remaining in the pipe bowl after it has been reamedand cleaned of all crust and caked deposits by the pipe cleaningassembly of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A pipe bowl cleaner comprising a collar and at least two cutterblades having curved free ends and restrained ends, said restrained endsincluding straight extensions fixedly secured to said collar, and saidfree ends of said cutter blades being adapted to form an angle in aplane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the pipe bowl of about10 degrees to about 15 degrees with a tangent to the inside wall of thebowl of said pipe, and means disposed between the straight extensions ofthe cutter blades for rendering said free ends more stiff.

2. The pipe bowl cleaner of claim 1 wherein said cleaner is disposedwithin and forms part of a combination ashtray-pipe bowl cleaner andwherein said pipe bowl cleaner is electrically driven to rotate in saidbowl.

3. The pipe bowl cleaner of claim 1 wherein the straight extensions ofsaid cutter blades are fixedly held to said collar by means of a lockingmember.

4. The pipe bowl cleaner of claim 3 wherein said locking member is awedge.

5. The pipe bowl cleaner of claim 3 wherein said locking member is aring.

6. The pipe bowl cleaner of claim 3 wherein said locking member is afastener.

7. The pipe bowl cleaner of claim 1 wherein said means for renderingsaid free ends of said cutter blades more stiff comprises a spacerhaving channels for permitting said spacer to be guidably insertedbetween said straight extensions of said cutter blades.

8. The pipe bowl cleaner of claim 4 wherein three cutter blades areemployed and wherein a triangular-shaped cavity is provided in saidcollar and each of the straight extensions of said cutter blades arewedged to one Wall of said triangular-shaped cavity by means of asphericalshaped wedge.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,120,566 12/1914 Tiffany 131246X 1,510,499 10/1924 Pfabe 131246 1,651,651 12/1927 Warman 1312322,086,738 7/1937 Possinger 131246 2,252,175 8/1941 Gordon 13l2322,306,622 12/1942 Gordon 13l246 2,575,634 11/1951 Marshall 1312323,256,891 6/1966 Katt 131-246 3,299,897 1/1967 Rhoads 131-232 FOREIGNPATENTS 155,977 1/1921 Great Britain. 210,626 2/1924 Great Britain.

JOSEPH S. REICH, Pfiz'mary Examiner.

